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The long‐term survival of Escherichia coli in river water

The long‐term survival of Escherichia coli in river water Escherichia coli introduced into autoclaved filtered river water survived for up to 260 d at temperatures from 4° to 25°C with no loss of viability. Survival times were less in water which was only filtered through either a Whatman filter paper or a 0.45 μm Millipore filter or in untreated water, suggesting that competition with the natural microbial flora of the water was the primary factor in the disappearance of the introduced bacteria. Survival was also dependent upon temperature with survival at 4°C > 15°C > 25°C > 37°C for any water sample. Direct counts showed that bacterial cells did not disappear as the viable count decreased. The possession of the antibiotic resistance plasmids, R 1drd‐19 or R144‐3, did not enhance survival nor cause a faster rate of decay, indicating that the metabolic burden imposed by a plasmid was not a factor in survival under starvation conditions. There was no evidence of transfer of either plasmid at 15°C or of loss of plasmid function during starvation. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Microbiology Oxford University Press

The long‐term survival of Escherichia coli in river water

Flint, K. P.
Journal of Applied Microbiology , Volume 63 (3) – Sep 1, 1987
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References (29)

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
"Copyright © 1987 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company"
ISSN
1364-5072
eISSN
1365-2672
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2672.1987.tb04945.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Escherichia coli introduced into autoclaved filtered river water survived for up to 260 d at temperatures from 4° to 25°C with no loss of viability. Survival times were less in water which was only filtered through either a Whatman filter paper or a 0.45 μm Millipore filter or in untreated water, suggesting that competition with the natural microbial flora of the water was the primary factor in the disappearance of the introduced bacteria. Survival was also dependent upon temperature with survival at 4°C > 15°C > 25°C > 37°C for any water sample. Direct counts showed that bacterial cells did not disappear as the viable count decreased. The possession of the antibiotic resistance plasmids, R 1drd‐19 or R144‐3, did not enhance survival nor cause a faster rate of decay, indicating that the metabolic burden imposed by a plasmid was not a factor in survival under starvation conditions. There was no evidence of transfer of either plasmid at 15°C or of loss of plasmid function during starvation.

Journal

Journal of Applied Microbiology – Oxford University Press

Published: Sep 1, 1987

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